Becky is here! Hooray! It's completely different hiking with Becky. I feel like I am on a hiking vacation instead of at my regular hiking "job." We started walking north from Buena Vista (pronounced BYOOna vista, by the way) on Monday morning at a pace that is manageable for Becky, who hasn't been hiking for the past 65 days, and that for me feels totally relaxed and enjoyable. Unfortunately, I picked a particularly difficult section to start on. The first climb out of Buena Vista was 2,000 feet in under three miles. Then it was up and down a while before we actually got some nice views to make it feel worth it. We spent all afternoon catching up on life as we climbed and it made it feel much less unpleasant.
Our campsite was by far the most beautiful place I have camped so far. It was a big, grassy field surrounded by beech and pine trees. There was a path that led to a mountain spring about a quarter of a mile off the A.T. and we found a perfect tent site alongside it, clear level ground padded with pine needles, under the shade of the trees. The spring was the coldest, clearest water source I have seen so far. It flowed swiftly out of the ground and it had a pebbly bottom and a few nice rocks to sit on. We both bathed in it and refilled our water bottles. I still filtered the water just to be safe, but realistically it is probably much safer than city water. We made quinoa with creamy chicken flavoring from a packet and had a very pleasant night in the tent.
The next morning, however, we awoke to the sound of a few raindrops pitter-pattering on the rain fly. We thought to ourselves, maybe we can wait out the rain inside the tent.... So we went back to sleep. A couple of hours later, the rain was pouring down and the tent was beginning to flood. We stuffed everything into plastic bags inside our packs, braced ourselves, and finally broke down the drenched tent and walked out into the downpour. Within minutes, our shoes were full of water and the wet tent was like a ten pound sponge strapped to my pack. We were climbing up and down the ridge line, over slippery rocks and through mud. I have long since ditched all my rain gear because I'm normally too hot to wear it when I'm hiking anyway, but at the slower pace, I couldn't generate enough body heat and I was shivering. Eventually, I had to pick up my pace and leave Becky to hike on her own so I didn't get hypothermia. The rain continued for a few hours like that, but fortunately, once it stopped, I was able to wait on a nice boulder beside the trail for Becky to catch up to me. We reached the next shelter together in mid afternoon, and even though we'd only walked seven miles, we decided to stay. We made tea and spent the whole evening trying to dry off and warm up. There was one great part of the day though - there was trail magic in the form of cold sodas and Little Debbie cakes in a cooler by the side of a road we crossed!! Nothing picks up hiker spirits like free food and cold drinks.
Finally, yesterday morning, we had lovely weather and a not-too-difficult descent to the Tye River, where we arranged to be picked up and brought to the bed and breakfast, where we not only have beds and showers, but laundry and bath robes and warm meals! Becky's feet are completely sore and blistered, not to mention the pain in all her joints and her back. She doesn't like to feel like she can't keep up, but I keep trying to explain to her that she shouldn't feel bad because that's exactly how everyone was their third day hiking. Your body basically goes into shock. Instead of feeling bad, I think she should feel extremely hardcore for being out here at all.
Today I slack packed 11 miles SoBo while Becky rested and healed at the B&B. I got back in the afternoon and we spent the hours before dinner sitting on the porch, reading and watching the calico cat watch the hummingbirds. It was heavenly.
Let me back up to the few days prior to meeting Becky. Lili and Armani dropped me off 28 miles north of Daleville at a place called Jennings Creek. We drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway, which parallels the A.T. the whole way, so even though I technically skipped 28 miles of hiking, I didn't actually miss any scenic overlooks or landmarks. I just saw them at 30mph instead of my normal pace of 2-3mph. We had a quick picnic at the Peaks of Otter and then they dropped me off at the trail.
Since I yellow blazed about a day and a half north of all the people I'd been hiking with, I found myself among totally new people. Also, for whatever reason, fewer people. I guess I've been part of a hiker "bubble" and suddenly I wasn't seeing as many people around me. I made some new friends, though, including a former army infantryman named Mountain Goat, a retired Canadian couple named Guardian and Angel, and a section hiker named Tin Man.
I have been seeing really exciting things along the trail. I've seen two turtles, some toads and frogs and tadpoles, lots more snakes, lizards, deer with tiny fawns, rabbits, turkeys, grouse, and tons of songbirds. Then, for plants, I've seen some impressively huge cow parsnips that look like fennel plants with gargantuan Queen Anne's Lace flowers that tower over my head, and columbines in shades from orange to peach to red, and tunnels of blooming mountain laurel. And with all the moisture we've had, fungus are abundant, in colors like wild neon orange and deep purple. I will post pictures.
Becky says I look different, like more muscle in my legs and slimmer in my torso. I can't really tell when I look in a mirror, which is rarely anyway. But when I weigh myself, I haven't lost or gained a pound since being out here, and while I do feel stronger, I don't feel too different one way or another. I know some people out here who have lost 30lbs. and all the men look different from when they started just because of their beards. But aside from my hair starting to grow back after my short haircut, I sort of just feel like... me.
I can't upload photos from the B&B because of bandwidth restrictions. I will follow up with photos soon, though. Especially of that awesome fungus.
Photos: Riding in the car with Lili, Armani, Blue and Eco; me at Apple Orchard Falls; three views of sunset on Thunder Hill Mountain; cicada; crossing the James River; view of James River from above; monument to the lost little girl who died on Punchbowl mountain; Becky beginning the hike; a white blaze on a bald; taking a break at Cripple Creek; awesome fungus; foggy summit; a happy bee; more awesome fungus; the Tye River; relaxing at the Dutch Haus B&B.
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